South Africa scored convincing wins over Australia (26-19), England (24-5) and New Zealand (19-12) in Munich on Saturday to top their pool at the Oktoberfest7s and to book a semi-final appointment with Germany on Sunday.

South Africa started the day with a win over New Zealand, before getting past England. This left them with a pool decider against Australia, where tries by Zain Davids and a brace by Selvyn Davids in the first half opened up a 19-0 lead at the break from which the men from Down Under could not recover.

Australia did score first in the second half, but a four try, by Siviwe Soyizwapi, again extended the lead and although the Aussies pulled two tries back, it was too late to overhaul the South Africans, who improved on attack as the tournament progressed.

The win against England seemed laboured at times. South Africa’s leading try-scorer on the first day, Kurt-Lee Arendse, got a hat-trick, with Soyizwapi getting the fourth try.

Arendse and Soyizwapi scored in the first half, with two conversions by Selvyn Davids handing the team a 14-0 lead at the break.

That was extended to 19 points with Arendse getting a second, before England showed some intent on attack with a long range try. Arendse raced away from the restart though to confirm a perfect start for South Africa.

In their opening encounter against New Zealand, an early try by Arendse set the tone of the South African attack. Stedman Gans created some space with a good inside pass and Arendse raced away from 50 meters out.

In a tight match, with defences on both sides very strong, tries were always going to be few and far-between, and New Zealand's Regan Ware's converted try on the halftime hooter was the only other points of the opening half.

A nice show and go by Branco du Preez saw the playmaker dotting down and converting his own try to restore the seven point lead. That was cut down to two points soon after when New Zealand got one back.

South Africa finished stronger though and a try by Dewald Human extended the lead and confirmed the slight dominance of his team.

The Cell C Sharks travelled to the Manuka Oval in Canberra in 1996 for a Vodacom Super Rugby clash and despite starting very well, four tries by Wallaby speedster Joe Roff meant the home team came away with a thrilling 44-31 victory.

It was the Vodacom Bulls' third Vodacom Super Rugby final in four years and they celebrated in style, winning this all-South African affair against a very good DHL Stormers outfit by 25-17 at a packed (and very noisy) Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

As a playmaker for the Springbok Sevens team, Justin Geduld is often confronted with making important decisions: “stick with the planned move” or “is there another option” are two choices regularly faced by the Blitzbok flyhalf on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

After beating the Wallabies in their RWC opener, the Springboks faced Romania and Canada in their final two pool games and with a spot in the quarter-finals within their reach, Kitch Christie's men did what was necessary in two tough encounters.

SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux and Springbok Women’s coach Stanley Raubenheimer agreed on Tuesday that the cancellation of the 2020 edition of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup was the best decision for all involved due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.

As we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of South Africa’s first Rugby World Cup triumph in 1995, former Springbok flyhalf Joel Stransky said it was an “unbelievably special time” in his career as a young rugby player.

Related Articles

The Cell C Sharks travelled to the Manuka Oval in Canberra in 1996 for a Vodacom Super Rugby clash and despite starting very well, four tries by Wallaby speedster Joe Roff meant the home team came away with a thrilling 44-31 victory.

It was the Vodacom Bulls' third Vodacom Super Rugby final in four years and they celebrated in style, winning this all-South African affair against a very good DHL Stormers outfit by 25-17 at a packed (and very noisy) Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

As a playmaker for the Springbok Sevens team, Justin Geduld is often confronted with making important decisions: “stick with the planned move” or “is there another option” are two choices regularly faced by the Blitzbok flyhalf on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

After beating the Wallabies in their RWC opener, the Springboks faced Romania and Canada in their final two pool games and with a spot in the quarter-finals within their reach, Kitch Christie's men did what was necessary in two tough encounters.